grown reforms bear some resemblance to an IMF programme, including privatisation and budget discipline, but significantly avoids any punishments for missing economic targets such as inflation or overspending. Rato was careful not to give Nigeria a full endorsement, and said any debt relief was ultimately a decision for the creditors, who are mostly members of the Paris Club of industrialised nations. "The government wants to engage in talks with the Paris Club and we understand that," Rato told reporters. "If the government is able to enhance its credibility and responds to the demands of the creditors ... then I think it will have a chance to get an agreement." With a foreign debt burden of about $30 billion, Nigeria has repeatedly called on the Paris Club for talks on debt reduction. This year it plans to pay less than half its debt dues of $2.2 billion. The Paris Club has never engaged in debt relief talks with any nation without a formal IMF programme. But with the IMF's monitoring, the Paris Club may reconsider. "If the policy is credible enough I think there is room for negotiations, but it will be up to the Paris Club members to make the final decision," Rato said. Nigeria's economy boomed by 10.9 percent last year, and the IMF projects gross domestic product to grow by 4.1 percent this year. Under Obasanjo's plan, Nigeria's growth is expected to hit 5 percent in 2005 and 7 percent beyond that. Nigeria earns about $20 billion a year from oil, but two-thirds of the population of 130 million lives in poverty on less than one dollar a day. Rato said he was encouraged by Nigerian policies on budget control, bank and tax reforms and legislative agenda, but called on the government to rein in inflation, which has risen to about 20 percent following the deregulation of the fuel retail sector. "We have advised them to be very careful with inflationary pressures. They still have high inflation and it is difficult to manage an economy with two-digit inflation so they should address that with monetary and fiscal policy," Rato said.
